Sky Views: Ten tech questions for the Tory leadership candidates

By Rowland Manthorpe, technology correspondent

It's hard to imagine now, but at some point the Tory leadership contest will end. Then, once the selfie sticks have been cleared away and the campaign websites set aside for next time, the United Kingdom will have a new prime minister.

For that person, Brexit will, inevitably, be top of the agenda. But there'll also be a country to govern, which will require policies that go beyond "we'll re-negotiate the backstop," repeated 10 times at speaking-to-foreigners volume.

Will the new Prime Minister show more interest in technology than Theresa May? Most likely, they'll have to, given the number of pressing issues that need their attention.

Here are 10 tech questions anyone who wants to be prime minister should answer.

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1. Should the UK have Huawei in its 5G network? The one unavoidable tech question hides a host of complicated follow-ups: not only for Huawei doves about the security risks, but also for Huawei hawks. What does this mean for Chinese tech more generally? How should we think about major tech investment from non-allied countries? Plus, of course…

Image:What's the future for Huawei and 5G

2. How would you protect the UK from cyber attacks? The risk is high, but defending against it is extremely hard. What's the solution - and could it involve launching cyber attacks of our own?

3. Would you break up Facebook, Google, Apple or Amazon? Only US lawmakers can actually do this, so a politician looking to dodge could easily say: "I don't think I'd have the power." Nevertheless, it's a crucial test of any potential leader's approach. Do they think the big tech companies are monopolies - and, if so, what should the UK do about it?

4. Should tech companies pay more tax? An emotive question, given the daily tales of retail redundancies, but not one with an easy answer. Anyone claiming they want to tax big tech should be able to provide detail about how. (Philip Hammond's "digital services tax" is at best a rickety stopgap.) Anyone chasing a low-tax "Singapore on Thames" should be prepared to justify that policy with serious economics.

5. Should the government eavesdrop on encrypted messages? With Mark Zuckerberg planning to encrypt every message on Facebook, this is an increasingly urgent question. Will the new prime minister guarantee citizens' privacy or scoop up more data for the security services? Ditto for mass facial recognition, already being used by police. Would the candidates be happy having their face scanned next time they're in Parliament Square?

Anyone claiming they want to tax big tech should be able to provide detail about how. Anyone chasing a low-tax "Singapore on Thames" should be prepared to justify that policy with serious economics.Rowland Manthorpe

6. Will you maintain tech alignment with Europe? The government is currently committed to keeping in step with the EU on issues like data protection, which risks the UK becoming a rule-taker rather than a rule-maker. Will the new prime minister commit to maintaining this alignment - and does that mean UK citizens' data is "off the table" in talks with the US? Follow-up for no-dealers: what's the plan to stop a precipitous no-deal exit having catastrophic consequences for the flow of EU data?

7. What's the plan for UK research and development? Investment in the UK lags behind countries such as Germany - who themselves are lagging behind authoritarian states with the ability to make large, long-term bets on technology. Does this matter and if so what's the post-Brexit strategy to fix it? Related: how will you ensure UK universities remain world-leading post-Brexit? Should international students count towards immigration targets?

8. Will you introduce age verification for every website on the internet? This is the biggest tech story no-one is talking about - including, of course, the Tory leadership candidates. The current plan is to introduce this new rule, which could potentially require every website to collect copies of people's passports, driving licences or credit cards, "by the end of the year". Do the leadership candidates realise what they're getting into?

Image:With Mark Zuckerberg planning to encrypt every message on Facebook, eavesdropping is an increasingly urgent question

9. What's your plan for the new world of work? Driverless cars may not be coming any time soon, but computers are already changing how we work. What kind of jobs do the candidates think are at risk and over what time frame? What's the plan for a future in which old skills become redundant and returns go to capital, not workers? And how will they secure fair treatment in the digital workhouses of the present?

10. Has the internet been a positive or negative thing for society? A worldview question. Leadership candidates like a spot of uplift, but there are real arguments on both sides - and polling suggests Leave voters tend to see the internet as a negative. What's really so great about it anyway? If you could turn the clock back, wouldn't you?

Sky Views is a series of comment pieces by Sky News editors and correspondents, published every morning.